Month: September 2014

Yeah, I didn’t write about what I’d meant to. I also didn’t run an errand I desperately need to.

I can forgive myself. This situation is taking every ounce of patience I have. (Yes, there’s something fishy going on that I’m not going to write about here. Let’s just say that I really shouldn’t have to put up with shit like this at this stage in my life. This is even more true when I’m doing a favor…..)

I haven’t gotten very far into Chopra’s book; my eyes get weird when I’m tired. But I’ve had time to think about it all more. With that consideration, I find myself really confirming my initial thoughts.

Similarly, I do know what I’m supposed to expect in my current position. I’m not getting it.

I probably should write a longer reax to what I saw at Start Norfolk Friday and Saturday, but that can wait until later this weekend.

I seriously blew the 30 seconds I had for the pitch after having microphone confusion. I did get to meet, speak with Aneesh Chopra, which was seriously cool. At the same time, I asked him why he’d gone around to invent a whole new process for technology acquisition. He said even the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) process took too long.

That irks me a bit, but it’s perhaps emblematic of the modern Democratic Party, who’d rather not have any sort of investigation into their decision-making. SBIR is fast when compared to normal acquisition, but it forces people to compete. When one of these things fails to work, which will happen, where’s the accountability?

As you can imagine, I have a lot to say about this, as well as reliance on “value” propositions. I was quite disappointed to see that academia is now embracing such nonsense. Of the seven elements of the “business model” presented in the first talk, only two are immediately quantifiable.

Unfortunately, my body got the best of me for the second half of Saturday, and today. I’m trying to be as well-prepared as I possibly can be for a full week of work.

It is what it is; meanwhile, the Windows Server 2003 support end date of 14 July 2015 draws a week nearner.

Background music here. (Along with the coolest CGI 1993 had to offer, and a depressingly-sad song set to colossal synth orchastra hits that prevent you from noticing first few listens…. I like that kind of thing.)

But back to the message. Everybody makes mistakes. We’re human. If Lovie Smith is the coach he’s purported to be, he’s telling himself that today, after last night. The key is learning to recognize when what you’re doing isn’t working, and to change things up.

Sticking to the football references, this is somewhere where Al Davis didn’t “get it.” Maybe speed, and throwing downfieldd all the time worked in 1983; it doesn’t work anymore. The coaching staff who got you to your last Super Bowl was boring “West Coast Offense,” and Rich Gannon. You didn’t win fast enough, and you got JaMarcus Russell.

So much of what I see being done in my career field is looking for JaMarcus. Hey, this worked in 2003, it should work in 2014. Cluestick — it doesn’t. In fact, trying to recreate it is foolish in light of what’s happened technologically.

So, what I’m trying to do is do honest analysis, and choose the best solution(s) for the current situation. Maybe they’re not textbook. Maybe they don’t lend themselves to an expensive multiple-choice test. Still, I am confident that ultimately, I can help someone make the correct decision based on the situation.

I’m writing this just before I attend Start Norfolk, so that’s affecting my thought patterns quite a bit. My current work position is also a bit akin to being a Tackle in an Art Shell Air Coryell offense. *sigh*